Italy president says "wise men" should finish work in 10 days

ROME

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano (3rd R) meets the 'wise men', a panel of experts he appointed to help find a way out of the political deadlock created by last month's election, at the Quirinale Palace in Rome in this picture by the Italian Presidency Press Office April...

Reuters/Italian Presidency Press Office/Handout

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Italian President Giorgio Napolitano (front, L) meets the 'wise men', a panel of experts he appointed to help find a way out of the political deadlock created by last month's election, at the Quirinale Palace in Rome, in this picture provided by the Italian Presidency Press...

Reuters/Italian Presidency Press Office/Handout

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ROME The two working groups appointed by President Giorgio Napolitano to try to identify a way out of Italy's political gridlock should have finished their work within 10 days, the president's office said on Tuesday.

"The correct period should be 8-10 days," Napolitano said in a statement posted on the website of his Quirinale palace.

The two groups, dubbed Napolitano's "wise men", will try to find common ground among the political parties on economic and institutional reforms, in the hope this will help the formation of a government following February's inconclusive election.